Job
Space Reactor-1 Freedom
Built in-house by NASA
Space Reactor-1 Freedom is NASA's fission spacecraft, targeted for a late 2028 launch and a 2029 Mars flyby with nuclear electric propulsion and the SkyFall helicopters. On 8 October 2026 NASA and the Department of Energy signed the memorandum Accelerating American Leadership in Space Nuclear Power and Propulsion, effective 1 November 2026. NASA names this flight as the step ahead of Lunar Reactor-1.
Who built it
Spec
20 kilowatts electric, closed Brayton cycle. Bus 48 kilowatts electric. Advanced Electric Propulsion System, 12-kilowatt Hall thruster. Fuel HALEU. X-band through the Deep Space Network.
Schematic
Mass about 12,000 kilograms. The mission deploys a science payload. SkyFall is three Mars helicopters evolved from Ingenuity.
The Advanced Electric Propulsion System is the thruster class also carried on the Gateway power and propulsion element job. SkyFall's instrument package includes ground-penetrating radar, imagers, and measurements of air temperature, wind speed, and wind direction.